Subtle Likenesses
by Kavi Leighanna
Summary: [Sequel to Subtle Clues] It was the happiest day of their lives case file
1. The Happiest Day

**Subtle Likenesses**

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**Summary:** It was the happiest day of her life, until it was destroyed. Jealousy, fear and love abound of course!****

**Pairing:** Catherine/Grissom and Sara/Nick; let me know if you want a Warrick paring in here too please.****

**Distribution:** Ask as ye shall receive. Please just let me know where it's going.****

**Rating:** I'm going to start with PG again. Chances are it's going up soon.****

**Disclaimer:** This is for the whole story, but much like **Subtle Clues** I don't own any of the characters you recognize. Those belong to CBS and the creators.

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**Prologue__ **

_The Happiest Day_

_June 20th, 2004_

It was the happiest day of her life. She was dressed in white, the gown touching the floor, her veil as pure as the rest. Her makeup and hair were done, her smile as genuine as the 2.5 karat diamond on her finger. She'd allowed her strawberry roots grow back in, contrasting beautifully against her gown.

"Mommy? Are you coming?" Her blond daughter poked her head in the room where her mother had been asked to be left for a few moments.

"Of course I am," her mother answered, standing and retrieving her bouquet and heading to the doors that would lead her to her husband.

Tears were shed and promises made as they pledged their lives and their love to each other. Then came the reception, where friends and well wishers enjoyed time with the new husband and wife.

Suddenly it fell apart.

Gun shots sounded peppering the head table with a hail of bullets. Red stained white, black and blue before, as suddenly as it started, the shooting stopped. The chaos that erupted resulted in few returning to check on the victims. The entire bridal party was dead, the husband splattered with his wife's blood as well as his own. The little girl was sprawled beside a brunette woman; the small ring barer was lying between an African American man and a broad-shouldered man.

The happiest day of their lives had quickly turned to tragedy.


	2. Mirror Image

**Chapter 1__**

_**Mirror Image**_

_June 20th, 2004_

When Catherine Willows stepped through the door, Gil Grissom, Warrick Brown, Nick Stokes and Sara Sidle right behind her, it took her a few minutes to scan the scene. She, as the first one to move, and with the most work ahead – blood was spattered everywhere – moved slowly around the back of the head table.

She couldn't hide her reaction.

In the bride was a mirror image of her, the groom the same of Grissom. Catherine involuntarily took in a breath as she looked to the others in the wedding party. She was looking at Nick, Warrick, Sara and Lindsey as well as the addition of a small boy. The resemblance was eerie.

"Catherine?" Grissom came to stand beside her and he noticed the same as she had. She reached out for his hand while she absorbed the scene. It was hard to look at the victims especially the husband, wife and flower girl.

"Got Ids. The brunette is Alexia Roscoe, the maid of honour. Following the line is the flower girl Miss Candace Cohen then the groom and bride, Mr. and Mrs. Seth and Sharon Prescott. Next is Malcolm Preston then Duncan and Bryant Roscoe. Mrs. Prescott's mother is outside. She gave me the Ids." Catherine nodded absently at Jim Brass as he left again.

"Sara, Warrick, Nick, get processing. Cath and I are going to talk to the stragglers," Grissom instructed, already leading Catherine away from the disturbing scene. He walked her outside to where the guests had stayed until 911 was called. Grissom didn't continue to the people. Instead, he walked her to the side.

"Are you going to be okay with this?" he asked, resting his hands on her shoulders.

"Shouldn't I be asking the same of you?" she retorted. Grissom smiled.

"You'll talk to me if…" Catherine smiled at him indulgently.

"Always."

* * *

I'm sorry to everyone who read the last chapter and flipped out because they thought it was Catherine. It wasn't, nor was it a nightmare. It's a case file! 

Kavi Leighanna


	3. Blindsided

**Chapter 2__ **

_**Blindsided** _

_June 20th, 2004_

"Lexie and Sharon were best friends, inseparable since they met in college. Sharon got married about seventeen years ago to some guy. Last I'd heard Sharon had just had Candace. The next thing I know I get a wedding invitation in the mail for her marriage to Seth." Catherine nodded at Jenna Kyriacos, who had identified herself as the bride's sister. The woman was blond, tints of red, and had the same blue eyes as her sister. She was holding tightly to a water bottle.

"You didn't keep in touch with your sister?"

"Sharon and I weren't really that close. We used to bicker a lot and when she moved away with her first husband, we didn't talk. Any news I got was through Lexie."

"Sharon had an ex?" Jenna nodded.

"He's Candace's dad. They divorced when Candace was 3. He used to share custody with Sharon before he got arrested."

"For what?"

"Possession of some drug." Catherine was slowly starting to get suspicious. Why did Jenna keep in touch with Lexie and not her sister? Her excuse just wasn't good enough. How did she know about the divorce, but not about the new engagement? How did Jenna know about the arrest? She saw Grissom step away from the mother and thanked Jenna. Grissom motioned back to the tape covering the doorway of the reception hall.

Sara, Warrick and Nick were busy at the opposite end of the room from the head table, setting up lasers for trajectories.

"What did you find?"

"Casings are over by the table, bagged and tagged. Other than that…" Sara shook her head as she finished. Catherine sighed.

"Mother's terrified, says she didn't see any one with a gun."

"Every one must have heard repeated shots. No one's talking?" Nick chimed in. Catherine shook her head.

"Either an automatic or more than one shooter," Warrick added.

"Personally, I'm liking more than one shooter," Sara picked up. "It seems like the bullets are coming from two different directions."

"And of course, no one say anything. From what we've gathered, everyone was too busy running for cover," Catherine said with a roll of her eyes. Sara snorted.

"Of course, no one saw anything," she said in disgust. Catherine felt a tug on her leg. Looking down, she found the mirror image of Bekki.

"I saw something."

* * *

Thanks to everyone who had the awesome reactions over the prologue. You guys all made me laugh, especially since last story I promised I would never kill off Catherine.

This one might be a little bit more complicated than the last one, make sure you keep track of all of the players!

Kavi Leighanna


	4. To See or Not to See

**Chapter 3__ **

_**To See or Not to See**_

_June 20th, 2004 _

Catherine bent down to the girl's level and noticed the blank stare of her brown eyes. Catherine smiled.

"What did you see?"

"The safety being removed from the gun, the bullet entering the chamber, a count of three and two separate guns firing," the girl replied firmly.

"What's your name, sweetheart?"

"Livvie Jallarico."

"Well, Livvie, my name is Catherine," she answered, taking the little girl's hands in her own.

"Catherine Willows. Mommy described you to me."

"Does your mother know you're in here?" Livvie nodded.

"My ears are better than any one else's," she said, her face and unseeing eyes turned towards Catherine's voice.

"Honey, you can't see, can you?" Livvie glanced down then resolutely back into Catherine's eyes, or as well as she could. They held a 'stare down'.

"I'm blind, if that's what you mean," Livvie finally said. Grissom took to her immediately.

"Where did you hear the shots?" he asked, well aware of the heightened senses when one is incapacitated. Livvie straightened in importance.

"Can you describe where I am?"

"The edge of the dance floor," Grissom began, guiding Livvie's hand to the polished wood, "off to the left." Livvie nodded, moving around the tables. Her hands moved over the cloth at one of the tables near the back.

"This is where I sat," she said, standing facing the head table. She turned around.

"One shot came from the back, over there," she said, pointing to a table to the right, "and the other came from two tables that way," she added, pointing to the right. Catherine thanked Livvie and walked her back to the door. She returned to the group.

"She's blind," Sara stated, moving over the right table that Livvie pointed at.

"That doesn't mean she's not credible. Because she can't see, her hearing is much better than yours or mine," Grissom answered, moving in the opposite direction. Catherine watched Sara's face grow red in embarrassment and gave her a reassuring smile before heading up to the victims. The coroner's assistant, David was leaning over the bodies.

"COD?" she asked wearily.

"Gun shot wounds, all of them." He was leaning over the blond girl and Catherine had to close her eyes for a moment to convince herself that it wasn't Lindsey.

"From the looks of it, a bullet went through the mother into the daughter and through the farthest man into the boy," he said, pointing out two through and throughs in the wife and groomsman.

"Parents protecting their children," she supplied.

"It doesn't matter though," he said, pointing out two head wounds, one in the girl and the other in the boy. Catherine shook her head in disgust.

"Why the children?" she asked, more to herself than David, who shrugged.

"Most of the victims bled out. Abdomen and chest shots."

"Thanks. Do me a favour and put these autopsies first?" David nodded and set about waving the paramedics to zip the victims in body bags. Catherine stood up and faced the empty room…

But in her mind, it wasn't empty.

* * *

This one's a tad screwed up, I know, but I need Livvie! I swear!

Thanks for all the awesome reviews. They really are motivational to make me write more!

Kavi Leighanna


	5. Deadly Relations

**Chapter 4__ **

_**Deadly Relations**_

_Dreamland _

Catherine stood at the table, dressed in a white gown. Grissom stood beside her, beaming happily and Catherine felt her heart skip a beat as they sat down, Lindsey bouncing in her seat. Catherine attempted to calm her down.  
Shots rang out.

Catherine stood and shoved Lindsey behind her, feeling a bullet slice through her abdomen and another through her chest. She fell, bleeding profusely. Grissom too had received shots, and Lindsey was already lying dead on the floor. Tears sprung to Catherine's eyes as she collapsed beside her family.

"I love you," she whispered on her last breath…

-__

_June 20th, 2004_

And was jolted thankfully back to the present. Looking behind her she found the marks of where each person fell. Taking another look around the room she noticed the food on the tables, having not been cleared because of the designated crime scene, and quickly looked at trajectories. __

_Livvie was right,_ she thought to herself, looking over at the table where Grissom was working and flicking her eyes to Sara. From the imaginary wedding her brain had conjured, it looked as if the bullets did come from either side.__

_Dammit! Why isn't anyone talking?_ Catherine was getting more and more frustrated with the case as she stood there. Her emotions were horribly on edge from the possibilities and insecurities that were down jumbling through her head. She looked down at her left hand and found Grissom's ring, snuggled comfortably at the base of her finger. She took a deep breath.

"Guys?"

"I've got a gun," Sara called, bending under the tablecloth. She pulled the black object out and held it up between thumb and forefinger. Grissom looked over.

"We need a list of every one at these two tables," he said. Catherine nodded, half way to the door. Warrick stopped her there.

"You doing alright?" Catherine smiled weakly as her imagination allowed her nightmare to flash through her head.

"Just an overactive imagination," she responded, heading out the door. Jenna had left but the mother, Marissa if she'd heard Grissom correctly, was still there.

"Excuse me, Mrs. Kyriacos?" The elderly woman turned and her eyes widened.

"Catherine Willows, I'm with the criminalists." She watched the woman's face drop.

"Right, I'm sorry dear, you just look so much like my Sharon. What would you like?" Catherine smiled reassuringly.

"I was wondering if you have a seating plan for the tables."

"Yes. Yes, I do…" She looked around the room and spotted a young man speaking to one of the employees. "Michael! Get this woman the seating!" The man turned and bowed, walking over and handing Catherine a sheet of paper.

"Thanks," she said absently, with a smile, looking over the names. She put herself back at the top table and flipped the plan accordingly. Her eyes widened.

"Is there something wrong?" the man asked. Catherine mentally jotted down the oily smoothness of his voice and resisted the urge to wrinkle her nose in disgust.

"No, nothing. Thanks again," she said and made her way back under the tape, pausing only momentarily to pick up the water bottle that Jenna Kyriacos had left behind.

"Grissom!" she called. His head snapped up from behind a back table and she waved the paper at him. He headed towards her.

"Seating plan," she said when he was a few steps from her. Then she dropped her voice.

"Did we test any of the people we interviewed for GSR?" Grissom looked at her alarmed. Even he had forgotten. His looked changed to quizzical.

"Look at where Sara found the gun and the seating plan." He flipped the page over.

"Jenna Kyriacos," he said, slightly surprised.

"The sister."

* * *

Ah, the cleverness of me! This one's probably going to move a lot faster than the other one because I have some awesome ideas to add to the series. There's still stuff to come, don't worry!

Kavi Leighanna


	6. Abra Cadabra

**Chapter 5__ **

_**Abra Cadabra** _

_June 21st, 2004 _

Now at the lab, all they could do was to wait. Warrick was running the prints they got off of the gun through AFIS and Brass was attempting to track down Jenna Kyriacos for GSR tests. The mother was clean, so was the wedding planner, Michael.

Catherine laid her head back on the top of her chair, giving her eyes a break from the white file papers in front of her. She was feeling horrible about her stupidity in not testing Jenna Kyriacos for GSR. It annoyed her to no end. She wanted to stay on this case but if she allowed likenesses to rule her logical mind she wasn't going to get very far with the case. In fact, if she didn't start concentrating, she was going to be pulled off.

That wasn't to say the others weren't feeling the heat too.

Sara had looked over at Catherine a number of times to check and see how she was taking all of the case. She knew Catherine must have been annoyed with what had happened, forgetting to check and having the death of two kids, one looking identical to Lindsey.

"I found your girl, but we've got bigger fish to fry," Captain Jim Brass said, interrupting the dead silence. Catherine looked up immediately, though she noticed the others stayed focused on their folders.

"The little girl at the scene, Livvie Jallarico, went missing about fifteen minutes ago from her bed at home. Her parents are in a fit because…"

"Livvie's blind," Catherine supplied. Brass looked at her, slightly surprised.

"Yeah."

"She helped us find the gun from the wedding case," Catherine answered his unasked question. Brass nodded.

"You coming?" Brass asked. Catherine nodded, snapping shut the files of her colleagues to get their attention.

"After all, the first 24 hours are the most crucial."

* * *

Bah, humbug. I keep writing short chapters but I don't wanna just keep ranting and ranting! Ugh! Anyway, this way you get more in one day, right?

Hope you're enjoying this!

Kavi Leighanna


	7. Nowhere to be Found

**Chapter 6__ **

_**Nowhere to be Found**_

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_June 21st, 2004 _

The home of the Jallarico's was well kept. It was a small bungalow with a green garage door and a green front door. Catherine could see the wind blowing through the curtains of the side bedroom. She quietly asked Nick and Sara to do the perimeter: footprints, disturbances… anything they could find. She and Grissom proceeded to the front door. Brass had beaten them there.

"Mr Leo Jallarico and Mrs Silvia Jallarico, Livvie's parents." Catherine nodded politely, her kit firmly in one hand.

"Can we see her room?" A teary eyed Silvia nodded, leading them up the small, four stairs to the main floor of the house. Catherine looked left and right down the hall. On the right was a bathroom and a corner. On the left, was what Catherine guessed to be her parents' room.

"You didn't hear anything?"

"The house creaks all the time," Silvia said around a sob. "Livvie knows everything about me and Leo, our footsteps, our breath, the sound of our pyjamas… she would have screamed." Silvia stayed at the door, as Catherine had instructed, and Catherine walked into the room. The signs of disturbance were little, only the bedside lamp had been tipped over, and Catherine sighed.__

_He held a gun to her head, or threatened her,_ she noted to herself. Then she set about printing the window. When she was done, she looked down. Sara and Nick were shifting through the plants at the bottom of the wall.

"Find anything?" she called down.

"A footprint or two. One small one big," Nick called back, waving to two white patches in the otherwise dark mud. "You?"

"Prints, but she didn't struggle hard." She watched Sara's mumbled curse.

"Why would someone want a little girl?" Sara called up. Catherine shrugged.

"Beat's me." She pulled her head back inside.

"Mrs Jallarico…"

"Silvia."

"Silvia, I need you to describe to me everything that happened here."

"Livvie always gets up at least once at night, to go to the bathroom or to get a drink, always around two. It's been like clockwork since she started sleeping through the night. She still comes to get one of us to go with her, because she's blind and all. She also does it because she knows we'd feel much more comfortable. Tonight, my internal alarm woke me up around two, like Livvie would normally do, but Livvie didn't come in. I waited ten minutes before I started to worry. I got out of bed and went to her room and her bed sheets were pulled back, but she wasn't in them. I immediately guessed she'd gone to the bathroom and went to check but she wasn't there either. Same thing with the kitchen and the rest of the house. I panicked and that's when Leo woke up." Silvia shivered as the memories flooded her mind again. Catherine nodded sympathetically, jotting notes down.

"I called 9-1-1…" she waved her hand as if to say 'and here we are'.

"You don't have any idea who could have taken her, do you?"

"Livvie didn't have enemies. She was a blind kid, every one was afraid of her." Catherine wrinkled her face in disgust. She didn't understand why people would shun people like Livvie. Livvie was such a sweet, sweet girl as soon as you got to know her.

_Could it be someone playing a joke? Kidnapping a blind child…_ Catherine shivered at her own thoughts and the dark trail they seemed to have taken. Grissom entered the room and immediately bent down, retrieving a black hair from the fibres of the carpet. Catherine almost hit herself in the head. How had she missed it? Grissom dropped the hair into an evidence envelope. He then said something reminiscent of a very old case.

"Shall we do the room?"

* * *

What is that now, four chapters up today? They're short ones though and it's Thanksgiving… I was so excited to get to write today too! Look what happens, you get many many chapters!

Kavi Leighanna


	8. Sadistic Sickness

**Chapter 7__ **

_**Sadistic Sickness**_

_June 21st, 2004 _

Catherine smiled at his words waving the print for him.

"If you'd like to join me," she quipped in response. He grinned and made his way to her side.

"Looks like the struggle is confined to this end of the room, basically the bed and the window," Catherine said. Grissom nodded in agreement. They moved to opposite ends of the bed without a word, both running on autopilot in their movements around each other. Fifteen minutes later, upon close inspection of the pillow, Catherine pulled back triumphantly, a distinctly red hair in her tweezers.

"The whole family is dark haired, not one of them had even the slightest trace of red, especially not this red," she said. Grissom nodded, sitting back on his heels from where he was looking under the bed and along the edge. He heard a crunching and turned swiftly, noticing the white page under his toe. He quickly pulled it out and opened it. He frowned at the contents.

"Gil?"

"Ransom note about Livvie. Apparently, our perp wants a plane ticket out of the country." Catherine's brow crinkled in confusion.

"He must have known we were coming here, that we would be on call for Livvie." Grissom pondered this.

"Or its connected to the wedding murder," he whispered. Catherine's eyes widened, her mind transported back to her nightmare. She shivered.

"Livvie knew where the shots came from," she said, rolling her eyes. "This is low, even for a murderer." Grissom sighed.

"You've got a workable print right?" Catherine nodded, moving to her kit where she picked up an evidence envelope.

"Sara and Nick have footprints," she said tersely. Grissom could tell this case was really starting to grate on her nerves and he allowed himself a mental sigh. How he was going to talk to her about it, he didn't know. Instead, he turned himself back to the room, vowing to talk to her later.

-

Catherine naturally hated double shifts but this one, not to mention the kidnapping case of blind little Livvie, had her unexplainably exhausted. To add to that, she'd been feeling sick since she'd gotten up and found she couldn't stomach much at all. Now se sat back against her chair, willing her light-headedness away.

"Cath? Are you alright?" Grissom asked, catching Catherine with her hands at her temples. Originally he'd come in to talk to her about her blowup at the crime scene, but her well being came first. He'd asked her the same question when she couldn't eat much more than toast that morning. She groaned and Grissom was at her side in an instant.

"I'll be fine, Gil," she answered finally. "It's just a little dizziness." Grissom looked at her carefully, concern and worry, along with a touch of doubt shined in his gaze. Catherine mentally cursed herself. It wasn't that he actually doubted her more that he knew her and that even with a headache, he knew Catherine would work this case.

Suddenly, she paled and bolted to the women's washroom, Grissom close on her heels.

"Cath? Are you alright?" She didn't answer him and Grissom began to panic. He called in for her again, warning her of his entrance if she didn't answer. Sara passed by at that moment and rolled her eyes. She pushed by him into the bathroom.

"Catherine?" Sara called. She heard a groan from one of the closest stalls. Sara pushed open the door and found Catherine bent over a toilet bowl. Sara was beside her in an instant, lending a friendly hand to hold her hair back and rub her back as Catherine began to heave again.

"What the hell is wrong with me?" Catherine asked, dreading the answer. Sara kept silent, helping Catherine stand and walking with her to the sink. The strawberry-blond washed her face and rinsed out her mouth.

"Should you be going home?" Sara asked carefully. Catherine shook her head.

"I'll be fine, Sara, thanks," she said, gracing Sara with a still weak smile. They left, finding Grissom outside the door, brow creased with worry. Catherine rolled her eyes with an affectionate smile.

"I'll go see Doc Robbins later, Gil. I promise," she said, wincing as she rolled her neck. He placed a hand on the small of her back and they began to walk away. Sara moved in the other direction. Then Catherine turned back.

"Sara?" The brunette turned. Catherine smiled, gratitude more than evident.

"Thanks."

* * *

Its almost mean for me to leave you without knowing if Catherine's okay ;)

You can thank my friend for all the work I'm doing on this and for most of the work I did on **Subtle Clues**. She harassed me for weeks about finishing the story. I'm stopping here and I'm going to go write **Blossoming**. I promised the chapters for it and so I'm going to write them.

Thank God for determination.

Kavi Leighanna


	9. Match Game

**Chapter 8 **

**_Match Game_**

_June 21st, 2004_

It was becoming endlessly frustrating. She wasn't going to drop dead yet people insisted on hovering! Yeah, she may have thrown up and yeah, she hadn't been feeling well but her headache had gone away with the little nap Grissom had made her take and her nausea was gone. Not to mention she knew she wasn't pregnant. Aunt Rose had come to visit only yesterday. Yet Grissom rarely left her side and Sara must have told Nick and Warrick because even they constantly checked to see if she was okay. She was thankful for their concern but it was getting on her nerves and she was having a hard time getting any work done.

"Catherine…'

"Yes! For the last time I am fine!" she exclaimed, spinning to face Warrick. He looked surprised and Catherine deflated.

"Are you sure?" he asked with a half grin. Catherine smiled lightly in response. She and Warrick had always been close and she knew Warrick constantly worried about her, especially on child cases.

"I can't get any work done with everyone asking if I'm okay. I'm starting to get frustrated," Catherine said by way of apology. Warrick nodded solemnly.

"I'll make a note of that. I was actually here to tell you two things. Your print is back – I think Grissom's been trying to page you for fifteen minutes – and the bullet comparisons are in." Catherine looked sheepishly down at her pager and phone, both of which she'd turned off. She'd been getting called non-stop to see if she was all right and that she didn't want to go home.

"People kept bugging me," she said in explanation. Warrick nodded knowingly and left down the hall towards Greg and the DNA lab. Catherine sighed, leaving her crime scene photos of both the kidnapping and the murders and wandered to the ballistics lab first. Bobby was there, leaning over a microscope and Catherine smiled fondly. After all, if it weren't for Bobby she wouldn't be alive. She grinned as she entered, looking towards the microscope inquiringly.

"You owe me," he said, pushing back in his roller chair.

"I already do, no?" she quipped back, peering into the lens, twisting the bullets until she found matching striations. Lifting her head from the microscope, she smirked triumphantly.

"I love it when there's a match," she said, pushing herself away, leaning against the desk instead.

"To about half of the bullets. I'll do you one better."

"You're never anything but thorough."

"I ran the serial number. Your gun has an owner."

"Jenna Kyriacos?" Bobby raised an eyebrow.

"Who?" Catherine deflated slightly.

"Sister in the case. She was sitting at the same table where the gun was found."

"Actually the gun's registered to a Craig Brent." Catherine smiled at him anyway.

"Thanks Bobby, I really appreciate it," she said as she strolled out, off towards the print lab. Grissom was there when she entered, looking a little ticked.

"Catherine! I've paged you six times!" Catherine smiled sheepishly.

"Warrick told me but with all of the badgering I was getting I turned my phone and pager off so I could get work done," she admitted taking a seat next to him.

"I heard Bobby got the ballistics…"

"Gun is registered to Craig Brent and half of the bullets match."

"Well we have matches on our prints too, well, at least to each other. The print off of the gun," he said pulling the image up on the computer screen in front of them, "and the print off the windowsill." He overlapped them to show a match. Then, he turned to face her.

"However, we don't have a name."

"I have a water bottle for Jenna. We can see about prints," she suggested, already moving to get up. Grissom nodded absently, his eyes trained on every movement of her muscles. She smiled at his not so subtle attempt to make sure she was okay. Of course, the perusal held other uses for him as well.

"I'm fine Gil," she assured him, watching him shiver as his name rolled off her tongue. She smiled predatorily.

"I'll get Nick working on that print from the bottle. Did you want help with some of your leftover papers?" Catherine asked innocently, swaying her hips as she left, not waiting for an answer. He followed her, as soon as she was out of sight, and found her seated comfortably in his chair. He closed the door, locking it.

"I think I can handle the few papers, Catherine," he said, leaning over the desk and watching Catherine's eyes darken with desire. She watched him make his way around the desk.

"Mm? I don't know about that, Mr. Grissom. The last time I left you to do paperwork, not much work got done."

"That would be because you didn't leave me, did you?" She smiled at the memory of christening his desk. He moved behind her, laying his hands on her shoulders and pushing his fingers into the muscles in her back. Instantly her head fell forward as he moved about his task of working out the kinks in her upper back and neck. There was silence for fifteen minutes as he worked.

"I still… oh!… have all of the pictures… mm… from Livvie's bedroom… god!… in a layout room," she managed as his hands worked wonders on her numerous knots.

"Find anything?" he asked huskily, the sounds Catherine was making having a distinct effect on his body. She groaned.

"It seems to clean," she replied. They both knew her conversation topic was a way of diverting their attention to more serious matters but both went along with it. Grissom removed his hands and she groaned at the loss of contact. He pulled her up and took her seat, situating her in his lap.

"We've got a dead wedding party and a missing girl. What's the connection?"

"A fingerprint," Nick said, entering the room. Catherine glanced at the clock. Twenty minutes had passed. She raised an eyebrow.

"The print on your sill matches the print on the gun that matches the print on the water bottle," he responded to the eyebrow. A smile blossomed over Catherine's face.

"Where's the bottle from?" Grissom inquired. Nick shrugged as Catherine stood.

"Jenna Kyriacos."

* * *

My Goodness! I'm really really sorry this took so long. I've had a couple of bad days and then I had to finish **Blossoming** before I allowed myself to get caught up in this one again. Now, however, this is top of my story list. Hopefully I'll get another chapter out for you soon but I'm not making any guarantees.

**PS I know a lot of people thought Catherine was pregnant… no.** That's the next one. This one's just the wedding.

Kavi Leighanna


	10. The Wedding Planner

**Chapter 9**

**_The Wedding Planner_**

**__**

_June 21st, 2004_

It didn't surprise them at all. From the beginning Catherine hadn't been a big fan of Jenna and now she knew why.

"Hey guys?" Greg poked his head through the door, locking eyes with each one before continuing. "Nick asked me to run a background check on the sister. It seems that Miss Jenna Kyriacos doesn't exist any more."

"What?" Catherine asked.

"She got married two months ago."

"To?" Grissom asked with a raised eyebrow.

"Michael Cabot." Catherine raised an eyebrow, mirroring Grissom. She knew that name; she'd heard that name before.

"Before you even ask, I ran a background check. It seems that our dear Mr. Cabot works for the catering company that the happy couple hired for the reception."__

_That's where I know him._ Catherine thought, flashing back to the oily man that handed her the reception seating. "I didn't like him at all."

"You've met him?" Nick asked, surprised.

"Briefly. He handed me the seating arrangements for the reception. I didn't like him," Catherine replied. Nick shook his head slightly.

"You really need to trust your gut more often Cath," he quipped. Catherine smiled.

"I'll call Brass. Now we have two friends to pick up."

-

_June 22nd, 2004_

There was only one case in Catherine's mind that rivalled this one. The brutal abuse and murder case they'd completed just over six months ago had had all of the team up in arms and some of them in the hospital. It was how Sara had ended up with a little girl of her own. This one was a little different. This one gave her nightmares.

That explained why she was still awake.

She and Grissom had curled up together more than two hours ago and yet she found herself battling the sleep that was beginning to weigh down her eyelids.

"Catherine? Have you slept at all?" Gil's voice broke through the fog of her fears. She looked up into his half-lidded eyes. She opened her mouth to lie and had to close it again. She was never able to lie to him, not since before the Lopez case.

"No." He wrapped his arms tighter around her, pulling Catherine snugly against him.

"Honey, that won't happen to you. You and I are going to get married in two weeks and by that time, this will be a bad dream," he said, his voice pleasantly clogged with sleep but oddly reassuring. Catherine found herself shivering involuntarily.

"I see Candace, Sharon and Seth every time I close my eyes, Gil." To her outrage, a tear slipped past her defences and down her cheek.

"Sweetheart, I'm still here and you saw Lindsey off to school three hours ago," he said soothingly, rubbing his hand up and down her back as she began to cry.

"Cath? Do you want off the case?" he whispered in her ear. Catherine didn't reply.

"Maybe it's best honey." Catherine shook her head.

"Catherine…"

"No. And we still need to find Livvie," she managed through her sobs.

"Honey, you're getting emotional…"

"I can do my job, Gil," she answered stubbornly, turning red-rimmed eyes up at him. He gave up trying to convince her otherwise. Instead, he rubbed her back until she fell asleep.

-

Catherine found herself with a splitting headache when she and Grissom walked into the lab the next morning, having been out on a different open-and-shut case. They split, Catherine heading to pick up the evidence to Livvie's kidnapping and Grissom to Brass who had rounded up both Jenna and Michael Cabot.

Catherine searched the pictures carefully for something even the slightest bit out of the ordinary. She was interrupted when her phone began to ring.

"Willows," she answered curtly, shuffling through pictures.

"It's Sara. Greg's background check gave us and address and you'll never guess what we found." Catherine's heart soared. She couldn't find her words.

"Livvie's here, Cath."

"Is she okay? Is she hurt at all?"

"She's fin, just a little shaken, but Cath, there's more than that. They were in something a little deeper. Looks like Sharon and Jenna were busy with things other than their actual jobs." Catherine held the phone between her shoulder and ear, still shuffling the pictures around.

"Okay, I'll be over soon." They said their goodbyes and Catherine hung up. Leaving a message on Grissom's phone, she left for the Cabot's.

* * *

This is yet another of my favourite set up chapters. Look forward to chapter ten. It promises to be an explosive chapter!

Kavi Leighanna


	11. Kaboom

Chapter 10a__

**_Kaboom_**

_June 22nd, 2004 _

Sara and Nick met Catherine at the door of the house.

"There's an extra evidence team out back bagging and tagging everything. It seems that they liked a variety of drugs," Sara quipped, quickly filling Catherine in. The blond raised an eyebrow.

"The legal kind?"

"Totally illegal. Meth, pot… you name it they've got it. Sara and I haven't done the house but Grissom called us on a 419 at the Tangiers. You okay with handling this?" Nick asked, noticing she'd come alone.

"I'll be fine, Nicky, thanks." They parted ways. Catherine carefully made her way through the house, methodically going through the ground floor before venturing up the first few stairs. She paused half way up and listened for a moment. Then with a gasp, she was off like a shot, scrambling down the stairs, running through the living room to grab her kit, still locked together, and to the front door.

She'd just opened the door when the explosion happened.

-

And I'm sorry to cut this short but it seemed to fit to end it here, especially since the story's been a little stingy on reviews. Leave me a nice long one and I'll have the chapter up within the next few days.

Sorry kiddies!

Kavi Leighanna


	12. Squeeze Through

**Chapter 10b__**

**_Squeeze Through_**

_June 22nd, 2004_

Sara felt horrible as she sat in the waiting room of the hospital. She and Nick hadn't even turned the corner, Sara still watching the house in the rear view mirror, when the entire structure blew. Immediately, she grabbed Nick's arm with a loud gasp. Nick swung the car around, simultaneously reaching for his cell phone and dialling 911. The crews around the house were doing inventory, checking to see which of them were present and who may have been hit by the blast. Detective O'Reilly was crouched in the front yard over the prone body of a blond. Sara gasped again and rocketed out of the vehicle, her worst fears confirmed when the detective's sad eyes met hers.

"She's got a pulse, but its weak."

"Paramedics are on their way," Nick responded, remarkably cool. But Sara knew otherwise. She looked up into the sky for a moment to collect herself then back down at her colleague.

"Its my fault," she said softly. "I knew we shouldn't have left her here alone."

"Hey, sweetheart, it wasn't your fault. You didn't plant the bomb, you didn't make Catherine go into that house… honey, we didn't know it was going to happen. If we'd known…" Nick let the sentence trail off as he pulled Sara into his arms. O'Reilly looked at the two.

"Which one of you wants to call Gil?"

-

He'd never been so terrified in his life. He'd picked up her message on his cell after he'd finished with a rather smug looking Mr. Cabot and didn't think anything of it. He trusted her with crime scenes, why was this one any different. The second call he got from Nick froze him in the middle of the hallway.

"What?" he asked, his voice strangled.

"I'm sorry, Gris, we didn't know…"

"Where is she?"

"Desert Palms, in surgery. Doctor's say she's critical." There was silence on both ends for a few moments before Sara's voice floated over the connection.

"I'm sorry, Grissom, we didn't know… but God, there was so much blood," Sara said, her voice cut off on the end as he heard the slap of a hand over someone's mouth. He guessed Sara hadn't meant to say that. His shoulders sagged as he waited for Nick to take the phone back again.

"We're here now. Is there anything you want us to do?" Grissom was torn. Part of him wanted to rush out, to make sure she was still alive, but if she was in surgery, there was nothing he could do.

"I'm going to go pick up Lindsey. Just… stay with her?" Nick agreed willingly and Grissom hung up, telling Warrick the Reader's Digest version of the events that had transpired in the last half an hour. He left the young man in charge with instructions to ask Greg first, then call Sara and Nick if any new cases came in.

"Gris?" Grissom turned to the African-American.

"Call me when she's out?" Grissom nodded silently and left.

-

The secretary of Lindsey's school looked surprised when Grissom entered the office looking worse for wear.

"Can I help you sir?" she asked politely, quickly hiding her shock.

"I'm here to pick up Lindsey Willows. Her mother is in the hospital," he said monotonously, trying to keep the extreme sadness out of his voice.

"Sir?"

"Please? She deserves to know. I'll stay here while I tell her if you want, just… get her down here," Grissom pleaded. The secretary nodded and quickly got on the PA to call the young girl down. Lindsey's face lit up when she spotted Grissom.

"Uncle Gil!" she exclaimed, throwing herself into his arms. He hugged her tightly, reining back the tears that were threatening to explode. The love of his life, his fiancée, the woman he was to marry in two weeks, was in the hospital, quite possibly fighting for her life.

"Uncle Gil?" Lindsey's voice was questioning and he knew she knew something wasn't right as soon as their eyes met. He almost broke down there, looking into the eyes of a mini-Catherine Willows.

"Honey, your mommy was at a scene today…" he paused to collect himself again as her eyes went wide.

"No…" she whispered.

"She's still alive, but she's in critical condition at the hospital." He noticed some relief wash into Lindsey's eyes at the mention of the life still in her mother but almost cried with her when she launched herself into his arms sobbing.

"Sir?" It was the secretary holding out a clipboard and a pen.

"If you could just sign here that you've taken her, we can let her go." Grissom quickly did what he was asked and picked Lindsey up, carrying her shaking body to the car.

-

He was going through the motions but not feeling anything, and his gut was telling him Lindsey was doing the same. It had been an hour since Catherine had been taken into surgery and it was lunchtime. Nick and Sara, both much calmer than they had been originally, had bought them lunch, forcing them to the cafeteria to eat it. Grissom and Lindsey were on autopilot but alert, listening for any news on Catherine. A doctor approached the table.

"Hello, you wouldn't be here for a Miss Willows, would you?" Immediately Grissom and Lindsey jumped in with questions. The doctor held up his hands.

"She's stable though still unconscious. We got most of the splinters out of her and patched her up pretty good. She's got a broken arm from the fall and a sprained ankle, not to mention a pretty nasty concussion. She's one lucky lady. We're pretty sure she'll pull through." Grissom and Lindsey sagged in relief.

"Can we see her?" Lindsey asked. The doctor smiled at her.

"Of course…"

"Lindsey Willows." The doctor took Lindsey's hand.

"I'll show you up to her room," he said with a smile. Grissom stood as well and Lindsey caught his eye.

"Can Uncle Gil come too?" she asked in a small voice. The two men looked at each other.

"Of course he can. I'll take you both up there now, but I'm warning you it could be a shock." Grissom nodded his head and followed the doctor and Lindsey. He hated hospitals, a hatred that had re-manifested itself with the Lopez case last September. Even if it was Sara in the hospital and not Catherine.

Lindsey's steps slowed as the doctor indicated a room up ahead but she took a deep breath, squared her shoulders and pushed onwards.

"Two at a time and for twenty minutes only." Grissom and Lindsey nodded, and the doctor opened the door to Catherine's room. Grissom had to hold in a gasp. She looked too fragile against the pillows and sheets with small cuts marring her face.__

_She's alive, Gil. Thank God she's alive,_ he told himself over and over again. She was alive and she was okay. His focus of attention shifted substantially when Lindsey grabbed his hand and squeezed tightly.

"I'm scared," she whispered quietly.

"It's okay, honey. The doctor said she'll make it out okay." It gave Lindsey more confidence to move up beside her mom.

"Mommy, it's Lindsey. Uncle Nick told me what happened at the house and that you rescued a little girl just like Bekki. It was very brave." She sniffled slightly. "Uncle Gil's here with me and we're both worried. We'll be back soon, when you wake up. I love you." She stepped back, allowing Grissom a chance to whisper the same sentiment in her ear. They both left the room.

* * *

I know it wasn't nice of me to leave you on the first half of this chapter… I just really felt mean at the time. Here's another one for you… I'm hoping to be almost done so I can move on to the third instalment… not sure how long this is going to be yet! Wish me luck! LOL.

Kavi Leighanna


	13. Fear and Hatred

**Chapter 11__ **

**_Fear and Hatred_**

_June 23rd, 2004_

She officially hated waking up.

Not that there was any specific problem with it, but it seemed that every time she did she awoke with a headache. Catherine tried to move and groaned loudly. She **hurt**! It took her mind mere seconds to process what had happened and to take a mental inventory of her injuries. She sighed. Her ankle was throbbing, probably the one she'd managed to get out the door, and her arm burned and itched. She opened her eyes slowly; careful with the light that she knew was inevitable. She could hear the beeping of the machines in the background and wanted to scream. She never wanted to be in a hospital ever again, unless it was for a happy occasion. She wasn't afraid of them, no siree, she just disliked the sterile whiteness that attacked at every corner.

Yup. She hated hospitals.

Once she got herself oriented with the hospital room, where the bathroom was, where the door was and the man that was sleeping by the window. She allowed her eyes to close again, falling into the sleep the drip in her arm provided her.

Yup. She hated hospitals.

-

When Grissom woke up, allowing his eyes time to adjust to the fluorescent lighting of the hospital and reminding himself he was there, the first thing he did was check on Catherine. She was asleep, again or still he couldn't tell, and he knew she'd be mad at him for staying and sleeping by the window…

But he loved her.

The sane part of his body regretted it completely as his sore neck could attest, but the other part, the part that was head over heels for the woman lying in the bed, had him stay and curl up as best he could in a hospital chair. It had taken him a while to fall asleep without her in his arms. He continued to watch her sleep, marvelling at the beauty he was fortunate enough to have love him like he loved her.

Yup. He loved her.

-

The next time Catherine found herself withdrawing out of dreamland she felt like she was being watched. Actually, she knew she was. She confirmed it when she opened her eyes and found herself staring into concerned blue pools.

"Morning, sunshine," he said softly. She managed to smile despite the pain that was throbbing in her arm.

"What…" she rasped. Then clearing her throat tried again, "what happened?"

"Do you remember anything?" Catherine smile ironically.

"A big bang," she quipped. Grissom smiled. At least she still had her sense of humour.

"I was in the house, just having cleared the ground floor, making sure there was nothing of interest, and had started up the stairs. That's when I heard the ticking. Automatically I knew what it was so I ran. Obviously, I didn't quite make it out of the house. Then I was flying. I guess I blacked out when I landed because I don't remember any real pain." She winced as she moved her leg.

"You feel it now," Grissom said with a soft smile. Catherine sighed heavily.

"How long to the doctors want to keep me?" she asked. Grissom caught on to the unasked question. Were they still getting married in two weeks?

"They want you on crutches for six weeks, just until that ankle heals up and the cast on for four." Tears sprung to Catherine's eyes.

"Sweetheart, we're still going to get married. We're just going to have to postpone it, that's all," he said softly, wiping at the tears. She nodded, taking a moment to compose herself before determination shone in her face.

"When are they letting me out?"

-__

_June 31st, 2004 _

Grissom should have known that Catherine would not confine herself to their house. She was a determined, strong woman – both qualities he loved her for – and in this case, it had become a double-edged sword. Catherine insisted on being helpful in the case. She'd badgered him endlessly to allow her into the lab until he finally complied, but limited her to lab duty only. That was how he found himself looking over her shoulder at crime scene pictures.

"I liked the sister for this," she said softly. Grissom agreed with a squeeze of her shoulders.

"Have we determined who the target was?"

"We assumed it was Sharon," she answered in a tone of voice that told him she thought he was being stupid.

"Let's look at it from a different angle," he suggested in reply, allowing the comment and tone to pass. She'd been on edge with her injuries.

"As in?"

"What if Sharon wasn't the target? At least, not completely."

"What are you trying to get at?"

"Jenna worked for the husband at one point, we got that from her records."

"You say it in the past tense. What happened?"

"She quit."

"Why?"

"Cited personal reasons. There were no specifics."

"You think her quitting had something to do with—" she waved her hands looking for the right word.

"She quit three days before Mrs Kyriacos said she got her wedding invitation." Catherine's eyebrows raised in curiosity.

"You think Jenna was sleeping with the boss," she stated. Grissom wrinkled his nose, characteristically disgusted at Catherine's bluntness and boldness. She grinned at his embarrassment.

"Watch it, Miss Willows," he growled in her ear. "To my knowledge, you're doing the same thing." She smirked at him over her shoulder. His pager beeped, giving him a welcome moment to compose himself.

He didn't want to… ahem … in the lab after all.

"Brass. Livvie says she's ready to talk about that night," Grissom answered her silent question. Catherine nodded and stood, bracing herself for the hop to her crutches.

"Catherine…"

"I'm a mother, Gil. Let me handle Livvie," she half pleaded with him. She was beginning to feel horribly useless around the lab and CSI in general. He looked her over carefully.

The swelling in her ankle had gone down somewhat since she was allowed out of the hospital five days after the explosion and she had been complaining less and less about her arm, though more and more about the annoying restriction of crutches. He'd humoured her throughout, chalking her unhappiness to being next to an invalid.

Reluctantly, he agreed.

* * *

Chapter 12 is coming, then the end of the story, I'm hoping by fifteen.

Kavi Leighanna


	14. All Tied Up

**Chapter 12**

**_All Tied Up_**

_June 31st, 2004 _

**_Author's Note: Read this carefully! It will flip around back and forth between suspects. Make sure you know who's talking when._**

­-

She could see the surprise on Livvie's face as she hopped into the interrogation room, her mother by her side and Catherine smiled reassuringly.

"Just a scratch really. It'll heal up in no time," she said, taking a seat across from the females. Livvie didn't look placated.

"I have a couple of questions, just to get details. We've already got Jenna Kyriacos and Michael Cabot on kidnapping and murder. Are you okay to do this?" Livvie nodded, determination more than evident on her face.

"What do you remember from the night of your kidnapping?"

-

Meanwhile, Grissom, Sara and Nick stood outside two other interrogation rooms. Inside the left was Jenna, the right Michael. The three exchanged glances, Grissom and Sara going towards Michael Cabot and Nick, on his own, taking on Jenna Kyriacos.

"Ms. Kyriacos, or should I say Mrs. Cabot, it's a pleasure to finally meet you," Nick said, though there was no warmth in his eyes. Jenna stuck her nose in the air. Nick held in a predatory grin.

"Now, we've got you on murder one for your sister, but it wasn't about her, really. Was it?"

-

"Murder one, Mr. Cabot… and now kidnapping? What is this world coming to?" Sara stated, more than asked, the slimy man at the metal table. She had preceded Grissom into the interrogation room. Taking a seat in one of the chairs, she dropped a thick folder on the desk. It was indeed that thick, and hadn't needed to be buffed up for the good of the case.

"We can't help you if you don't tell us the whole story."

-

"I don't remember much, I couldn't see much, but I did feel the window open. My bed dipped and then there was something on my head… Metal I think," she said, her voice becoming very small. Catherine exchanged a sympathetic smile with Silvia Jallarico. If her daughter were in this position, she probably wouldn't have really wanted her doing this either.

"Somebody told me to move or I'd be shot. I couldn't see, I couldn't do anything…" tears came to the little girl's eyes.

-

"My sister? Why would you think this was about my sister? I loved her!" Nick saw the truth of it in her eyes.

"She wasn't supposed to end up dead. Neither was Alexia, Duncan or Bryant Roscoe, neither was Malcolm Preston or Candace, were they?" Jenna shook her head sadly. The room was silent for a few minutes.

"He used me. Rode me hard and left me wet!" Nick raised his eyebrows at the implications of the words. She smiled slightly and shook her head.

-

Michael sat back against the metal of the chair.

"Jenna came to me. Said she wanted her ex dead. What kind of a husband are you if you don't do things for your wife?"

-

Jenna looked back down at the table.

"Then the girl heard. I didn't know she was blind… Michael did."

-

"I knew we were in trouble. That girl could pinpoint things by sound better than any electronic device. We had to do something. Jenna was already freaking out because Sharon got caught in the fire. So did Lexie and her little niece." Michael shook his head mockingly. Inside Sara was panicking, but her outside remained calm and composed.

"That was your goal. Sharon Prescott."

-

"I didn't mean for all of the other's to die."

"And the bomb at your factory?" Jenna sighed.

"The factory… it's Michael's. I know, I'm just as responsible because I didn't report it…"

-

"Sharon was my right hand for years! She kept books for me on my business transactions."

"Your drugs," Grissom interjected. Michael shrugged.

"Sharon and I were pretty close through school. That's how I met Jenna… then Jenna got wrapped up in Seth Prescott." He made a disgusted face as he spat the man's name out.

-

"Michael had been interested in me for years. When Seth threw me out, he and I reminisced about old times. Then he got fired the day after I did. We bonded over that… eventually we felt we were enough in love to marry…"

-

"She never loved me. Not fully. Not until she got the invitation to her sister's wedding to Seth Prescott. That changed everything."

"Alright, alright, what about the bomb. I forgot about adding that to the charges, attempted murder of a government employee." The slimy smirk was back.

"You fell for it, didn't you? You didn't think I'd leave that factory unprotected, enough to let you officers get your hands on everything we worked so hard on." Sara prayed Grissom wouldn't react violently to his disregard for the injured Catherine.

-

"They took me to some place… drove around in circles I think so I couldn't figure out where we were going. Then the man pulled me out, shoved me down a set of stairs…" Livvie reached up and touched her forehead where a bump had formed.

"I guess he left then. The woman came downstairs with an icepack for my head and apologized. She told me it was her fault he was mad… they'd been arguing in the front seat. I didn't pay much attention…"

-

"I think we're done here," Grissom growled out. It was enough of a confession to get him on attempted murder and with his prints on file and the gun they'd withdrawn from the shed of the house, they would be able to get him on murder too. The two stood and walked out, still calm and composed, noticing Nick come out of the interrogation room at the same time.

"Well?"

"She wanted Prescott dead, not Sharon. Prescott was the target, but Cabot took it a step further."

"Ah, the beauty of deranged husbands," Sara quipped sarcastically.

-

"Thanks, Livvie you were a huge help. Do you think you'd be able to tell a judge in a courtroom?" Livvie nodded. Catherine smiled as the two left the room. Minutes later, the door opened again and Nick, Sara and Grissom entered. The first thing Catherine noticed was Grissom's irritation.

"If looks could kill, Gil."

"He'd be dead." That was the moment Catherine knew all was not well. Something was bugging him deep down. Wracking her brain she finally came up with the reason.

"They don't care. With the bomb, with the murders, they don't care."

"He doesn't care," Nick corrected quickly. "Michael Cabot has no remorse for the murders or the bomb. In fact, he looked mighty pleased with himself over it." Catherine shivered.

"Now are you happy I took Livvie and not Michael or Jenna?" she asked Grissom. He gave her a small smile and nodded. She rested a hand on his arm.

"It's over, Gil." Sara and Nick left the room quietly.

"I love you," she whispered. He relaxed substantially.

"I love you, too."

* * *

And yes, the case is over… I think… part of me says that was way too easy and I was actually going to add in another character… then didn't. Hope you guys liked it… as always the next couple of chapters will be the fluff and the wedding… skipping 8 weeks of course so that Catherine is all better!

Kavi Leighanna


	15. Preparations

**Chapter 13**

**_Preparations_**

_August 26th, 2004 _

_-_

The day dawned bright and clear as Catherine rolled over in her makeshift bed on Sara's couch. This was her wedding day. In a few hours, she was going to marry Gil Grissom, the man she loved with all her heart. She took the moments of silence to reflect, like she did every day before she got out of bed.

It had been months of healing not only physically for her, but emotionally and mentally as well. The things that she had seen in her life were sick and twisted and, if she hadn't seen them with her own eyes, probably unbelievable. The case with Amanda Bell had bonded the team closer than ever before, all of them feeding off of each other during cases, more so than before. The last brutal case, with a little girl and a ruined wedding, still gave Catherine the chills and partially made her dread what today was.

The bright side of all of this? The team had been there for each other. Whenever someone understood that Catherine was pulling away – usually Sara who had helped Catherine plan most of the wedding – it was just a matter of sitting down with her and walking her through how much Grissom loved her and how there wouldn't be any one waiting to kill her at her wedding.

Catherine was just excited to get it all over with so she could be married already!

Lindsey came bounding into the room minutes later from Bekki's bedroom that in any other apartment would have been an office. Nick and Sara had agreed that until things became more permanent, Bekki would stay with her. This made things easier for Catherine and Lindsey as well as Sara, Bekki and Nick. The grin on her little girl's face sent all of her wedding day death fears scattering out of her mind.

"Mommy! You're getting married today!" she exclaimed happily, coming to sit at Catherine's stomach. Catherine affectionately ruffled Lindsey's hair.

"That I am sweetheart. Now, what do you say we go wake up Sara so we can get going, huh?" Lindsey scampered off and Catherine pulled off her covers. Lindsey came out moments later dragging a groggy Sara in her wake. It took Catherine a moment to register what exactly her daughter was humming under her breath.

-

_Here comes the bride…_

_-_

Grissom was in his room at the church, watching the clock tick past the large numbers.

"Gil Grissom! This isn't going to help one bit!" He smiled as his mother entered the room and turned to embrace her.

"Sorry mother," he signed in reply, pulling away after a few moments. She gave him an affectionate smile.

"She'll be up there Gil, all dressed in white. Remind me again why you didn't do earlier?" Grissom smiled and regaled his mother with some of the reasons behind his mistake.

"But, I let her get away once, I wasn't willing to do it again." His mother smiled at him, her eyes having turned misty. It was going to be a beautiful day.

* * *

**(AN: I don't actually know if Grissom's mother was born deaf or not. If she wasn't I'm assuming she can talk, though not necessarily read lips. Nor to I remember if she's alive or not. If she's not and I missed the memo, someone please tell me?)**

I know its short but… this is where I felt like ending it. The next chapter for sure will be the wedding with beautiful vows and a reception. After that… I'M DONE! Maybe if I get enough reviews I'll start a third one but there are a couple stories that need to be finished.

Kavi Leighanna


	16. All Dressed in White

**Chapter 14**

**_All Dressed in White_**

_August 26th, 2004 _

_-_

Grissom stood just a little bit straighter as the pianist struck the first chords of 'Here Comes the Bride' and watched, mesmerized as Catherine made her way down the aisle. The dress she wore was the purest of whites, a ball gown, satin skirt and ribbon accents. The sleeves were long and lace, with bell sleeves. In her hands she held a bouquet of wildflowers, colourful lavender, and poppies. Her veil dropped down her back, stopping at the end of the dress about a foot and a half behind her. Her hair was curled and twisted into a bun at the back of her head. She was a sight to behold.

And Grissom thought she was amazing.

He didn't hear the pastor start, nor most of the service. The only thing that stuck in his mind about the words spoken were hers, the ones she had written in place of vows.

"Gil, you've been absolutely amazing over the last fourteen years I've known you. Yes, you have moments, but we all do and its those moments that make you who you are, that make you the man I love. I stand here today, before you, before God, and before our friends and family to pledge my undying love to you forever and always. I want more children, but only with you. I want a stable family environment, but only if I can have it with you. And so, I take nothing, but give my heart to you, to love, to cherish and to protect until my last days."

He'd never cried until that moment and it made his reply that much harder.

"I sat down last night to write these, me and my procrastination skills and as I sat there, pen in hand, I realized what I feel for you can't be put into words. So, I stand up here speaking from my heart today to the woman I love more than my bugs, more than anything in the world. While you may not think you're taking anything, I'm giving you my heart, just like you gave me yours and I lock yours away safely to where I hope with all of my love that it will never be injured. I love you Catherine and I always will.

And, ignoring her makeup, Catherine began to cry too.

"I now pronounce you husband and wife. You may kiss your bride."

* * *

And I expected to write more than that but that just seems to be the perfect spot to stop! Thanks so much to every one who reviewed this through its long lifespan and I hope you enjoyed this as well as **Subtle Clues**. I do have another planned out but with a couple of stories in the works it won't be going up without motivation until those are done.

Thank you so much again for everything and for sitting through this with me.

Thank you,

Kavi Leighanna


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